<p>NO chemo and NO radiation required. The oncology review board felt the clear margins were very satisfactory and exceeded their minimums for additional treatment. Based on that, she was cleared of additional treatments and the case was definately just a stage 1 breast cancer. Part of what helped with this outcome is that the large majority of the cancer cells were still contained within the ducts. Also, they did check 3 lymph nodes and the final pathology on them was 100% negative. Thank you all for your prayers of support. They were answered with this very positive outcome.</p>
<p>She still has some recovery time ahead of her and one additional minor surgery as the reconstruction is completed later this spring. She was also given the preliminary OK for our planned spring break cruise. She laughed and said that she certainly wouldn’t be in a bikini top this year but that wouldn’t keep her out of the bottoms and a tank or tee top so she could enjoy the pool, sun, surf and beach options and be comfortable.</p>
<p>Her sister and BIL have been in Hawaii and the the west coast for the past two weeks for the holidays and she is flying east to visit and stay with us for a week or two for moral and family support. Her H has to return home to Australia where they live and he has his practice. S leaves for school next Tuesday so we will have a busy weekend before he goes back as his birthday is in late January and we will have a family dinner outing while everyone is here for an early celebration. And D14 has finals next week as well. It seems like there is never a dull moment around our house! :D</p>
<p>mamom-11 pm is a reasonable curfew on weekday nights and I agree that your S should not get too exhausted before going back to school.</p>
<p>momjr-nice to hear you had a great beach vacation with family. You are right that some students do need to recharge between semesters.</p>
<p>siemom-^^^ :(</p>
<p>S1 made sushi candy and we took it to friend’s house on Christmas eve to share and everyone liked it.</p>
<p>S2 (HS15) is doing schedule for next year and this is only his first week back to school! Anyway, he will have 4 honors core classes, choir and AP world history. There is one slot open and he is thinking about taking AP Euro history. Unlike S1, S2 takes much longer time to do his HW and I just don’t think he will have time to do the Euro assignments. Have any of your students taken the AP Euro history and how was the course?</p>
<p>Wonderful news for AvonHSmom! Hoping that the rest of the recovery continues without incident. Happy cruising!</p>
<p>EAO: I hear you on the driving. D has not yet gotten her license either. She’ll need to find time to practice driving during the summer, depending on what else she is doing, so that she doesn’t have to depend on me to take her places. I truly think that S HS '14 will have his license first, or maybe they will do it together!</p>
<p>I made D go to the RMV over this last break to get an official state ID, because she has been depending on her passport for ID (airport security, etc.) but needs to send it in for renewal and may not have it back for spring break travel. Getting ID without a driver’s license is hard; she needed 3 separate documents, one to prove residence, one to prove date of birth, and one to prove signature. If she were under 18, I could just have signed a form and been done with it.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone balancing kids at home!</p>
<p>Wonderful news, Avondad! I couldn’t be happier for you.</p>
<p>Sunnyday: My D1 took AP Euro History her senior year of HS. She enjoyed the class, but I think that it would be tough for a sophomore to take along with AP World History. I’m not a huge fan of the AP arms race. I think that one AP course is plenty for a sophomore.</p>
<p>My S doesn’t have his driver’s license yet either but he has a learner’s permit which counts as an official state ID. I was supposed to make him practice over this month-long break, but so far that has not happened. I don’t think he’ll be home for the summer as there aren’t really any relevant jobs in this region.</p>
<p>I am so happy to hear the great news for AvonMom! What a relief for you, her and the kids.
Here on the home front, D is just chilling and S moves at the speed of light, catching up with friends, etc. I haven’t really expected too much of them, but they offer to run errands and such, so I’m happy.
I think they are both itching to get back to school soon, which is nice.</p>
<p>Sunnyday: of the 11 APs my D took (across all subject areas), Euro was far and away the most time consuming. She said it was both the hardest and the best! Her peers would agree. It requires a lot of learning of facts but, also, a lot of real thinking (comparing, contrasting, infering) unlike some of the other clases that my D felt were “memorize/regurgitate facts on test” classes. Might just be the way our HS does it, but you are right to give it a lot of consideration before doubling up so young. On the other hand, do Euro and World History subject matters overlap at all?</p>
<p>If my S takes it as a sophomore, it will definitely be his only AP for the term and we might restrict him to only one other honors level class just to keep things manageable.</p>
<p>My boys both took AP euro as Junior’s. That’s when it’s taken at our HS. Both found it challenging but well worthwhile. I would not suggest taking it with another AP that requires as much reading and writing, unless your son doesn’t really want to anything but study. Agree with momjr about the AP arms race. </p>
<p>Funny story. Youngest son (the college freshman) and I just came back from our bank. He had stopped in there by himself yesterday to tell them that his debit card was expiring and that he had not received a replacement. They gave him a temporary card and then offered him a credit card. He told the bank agent that he would think about it. We talked it over and encouraged him to get it. I was surprised that they offered. We had to co-sign for our older son’s from the same bank.</p>
<p>So he asked me to go back with him to the bank today in case I would need to co-sign for the card. I went with him, but no, they didn’t need my signature at all and gave him a card with a $1600 credit limit. We thought that was high, but okay with us. On the way home son and I were talking about why he got such a high limit (the bank person told us to expect maybe $500) and I suggested maybe because he’s been very responsible with his checking account, has a job, etc. Both of us were feeling pretty good about that. We get home and son starts reading over the paperwork and we discover that she put in his income as $12,000 per year instead of $1,200! We’ll see what the real limit is when the card comes in a couple of weeks. :)</p>
Thank you all for your prayers of support. They were answered with this very positive outcome.</p>